In Pictures: Twenty Eleven

Jan 07: A team of 15 New Zealand Civil Defence volunteers head to Australia to help with the emergency response to the Queensland floods that forced the evacuation of more than 4000 people.

Feb 22: A devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake hits Christchurch. The death toll would rise to 182 with hundreds more injured.

Feb 27: The King's Speech wins four Oscars including best picture at the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

Mar 11 - An 8.8 magnitude earthquake hits the coast of Japan causing a deadly Tsunami that went on to cause over 18,000 deaths and billions of dollars worth of damage.

Apr 29: Prince William and Catherine Middleton marry in an elegant ceremony at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony was watched by over 2 million Kiwis.

May 01: U.S President Barack Obama announces the death of Osama Bin Laden by U.S Special Forces in Pakistan ending a nine year hunt for the al-Qaeda leader.

Jul 07: Rupert Murdoch's son James releases a statement announcing that Sunday, 10 July 2011, will be the last issue of the News of the World. The paper’s closure cames in the wake of the phone hacking scandal that engulfed News Corp International, the news empire run by Rupert Murdoch and his son James.

Aug 10: British PM David Cameron authorises the use of water cannons outside Downing Street as the worst riots ever seen in Britain begin to take hold. The riots lasted 4 days and were initially sparked by a shooting by Police in Tottenham. 5 people died and more than 2,000 were arrested for looting and rioting related offences.

Sep 11: America and the world paused to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11 2001. Nearly 3000 were killed in the attacks with many thousands more injured. A memorial to the victims was opened in a ceremony at the site at the exact time of the attack.

Oct 05: Apple Co-founder Steve Jobs dies. Jobs was the mastermind behind the Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes, and founder of Apple Computers. He'd stepped down as head of Apple in August citing undisclosed health reasons.

Oct 20: Celebrations break out in Libya as new leaders declared Muammar Gaddafi had been killed, signally eight months of war may finally be over. His death brings an end a near 42-year regime that had turned the oil-rich country into an international pariah and his own personal fiefdom.

Oct 23: The All Blacks end 24 years of hurt, finally lifting the Webb Ellis trophy as winners of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. New Zealand had an unlikely hero in Stephen Donald who came on and slotted what turned out to be the World-Cup winning penalty early in the second half.

Nov 07: Joe Frazier dies of liver cancer. He beat Muhammad Ali in the Fight of the Century, battled him nearly to the death in the Thrilla in Manila. Then Joe Frazier spent the rest of his life trying to fight his way out of Ali's shadow.

Nov 26: John Key and the National Party are elected for another term after an overwhelming result at the polls. National won 60 seats, Labour won only 34 seats and The Green Party won a best-ever 13 seats. However it was a disappointing turnout at the polls, the worst in nearly a century.

Dec 23:More devastation for Christchurch residents as two more quakes rock the region. The first quake - magnitude 5.8 quake, 8km deep and centred 20km north east of Lyttelton - struck at 1.58pm. The second earthquake, which residents said felt even stronger, hit at 3.18pm.